LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Shannon Walsingham was nominated by an anonymous parent of a student.

Ms. Walsingham is a light to all the children she teaches and the staff that she works with. 

"My daughter had Shannon for second grade. Shannon was literally her LifeChanger," the nominator said.

The nominator's daughter had struggled to recognize and sound out letters and words since Kindergarten. Her previous teachers had worked diligently to try to find what would work to help her. Ms. Walsingham only had her in her class for three weeks and came to the nominator with some concerns. She thought the nominator's daughter may be dyslexic.

"We had never thought about this because we didn't really understand that there are different forms of dyslexia, and it wasn't just writing letters or numbers backwards," the nominator said.

On Ms. Walsingham's hunch, the nominator took her daughter to be tested. Sure enough, dyslexia was the issue. Today, the nominator's daughter has had her greatest growth yet because of the strategies Ms. Walsingham implemented in her reading group, as well as the things they worked on at home.

"Now, as a fourth grader, my little girl LOVES to read and has so much more confidence in herself!  Shannon not only helped her learn to be a better reader, but how to overcome and face down adversity," the nominator said. "My daughter went from crying every night with homework to finishing her work independently!  We are and will always be grateful and blessed to have had Shannon come into our life. She is a LifeChanger for so many students and their families!"